


Siblings Don't Always Need Protecting, But Diego Will Be There Anyway

by VarietyALU



Series: The Umbrella Academy [2]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, BAMF Klaus Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves Deserves Better, Childhood Trauma, Dave (Umbrella Academy) is Alive, Diego Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Diego Hargreeves is Bad at Feelings, Eudora Patch is Alive, Good Brother Diego Hargreeves, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, Protective Diego Hargreeves, Vanya Hargreeves Needs A Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2019-11-16 07:03:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18089663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VarietyALU/pseuds/VarietyALU
Summary: The siblings time-traveled to 3 months before their dad's funeral and managed to stop the apocalypse. Now they're trying to continue living their lives as they would've if none of that had ever happened, making a few important changes along the way. One of those changes involved Diego not dropping out of police training and becoming a full-time cop with a squad he'd trained alongside ever since he first moved out of the Academy. However, now the siblings are closer together and don't only see each other at weddings or funerals, how will Diego's cop squad react when they finally meet Diego's family?





	1. Klaus

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kaya_mckay](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaya_mckay/gifts), [Abigail_Mikaelson](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abigail_Mikaelson/gifts), [Agent_Nevada_01](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Agent_Nevada_01/gifts), [girlphoenix66](https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlphoenix66/gifts), [DrowningInShips](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrowningInShips/gifts).



From this prompt: The seven siblings time travel to just after their dads funeral, and save the world and Ben lives and Dave is somehow there (if you want you can you include how he is there but it isn’t extremely important to the story), and they are living together and they’re learning to be a family, just your typical everyone lives AU so far, right? Well here’s the differences, #1 Diego is a police officer (very important). He gets a call about a gay bashing scene and all he is thinking is (my brother is fine, okay he and Dave are just at the movies) and then he gets the location of the gay bash (the movies) and he’s like (okay there might be a lot of gay couples at the movies tonight, he’s fine) and then he gets their descriptions (it matches) and he’s like (oh shit who am I kidding that’s totally Klaus and Dave). He’s scared of what he is going to see because he’s seen gay bashes before, and it never looks pretty, and he doesn’t want that for his brother. He gets there and Klaus and Dave have kicked ass, and Klaus gives Diego the patented little sibling look “you’re ridiculous, but I love you anyway I’m fine” when Diego fusses. His coworkers are so freaking surprised because he is extremely secretive about his family and past so they assume he had a bad one. Everybody’s fine and they have a feelings moment, and Fluff! (The book was written but nobody recognizes them except vaguely because it was 10-15 years ago.) Eudora Patch is alive because she is a badass and she and Diego are both partners and boyfriend/girlfriend.

Diego chilled in his cop car outside a busy intersection watching for people going over the speed limit. It wasn’t the coolest of jobs but crime was pretty low that day. He should be happy about that, it meant they were doing their job, but on freezing days when there was nothing good on the radio, a little excitement would’ve been appreciated. 

It was 3 months after they’d time-travelled back to before dad’s funeral to try and stop the apocalypse before it began. Diego had redone his police training exam and passed, to Eudora’s delight, Vanya had moved to a different apartment and carried on with her violin lessons, just this time staying far away from anyone with the name Leonard, Allison hadn’t changed much, Five and Luther were doing their thing back at the mansion, and Klaus was in a successful relationship with a Vietnam veteran called Dave.

Also, apparently he was a Vietnam veteran as well. It was weird having some random guy from the 60s show up but he made Klaus happy so Diego refrained from being too intrusive. Somehow, when Five time-travelled them back, Klaus had been thinking so much about the moment when Dave died he accidentally travelled back there instead of with the others. Five had to take a second trip back to Vietnam to get him, but Klaus refused to leave without Dave and they’d ended up with a soldier in front of them dying from a shot wound. 

After treating him and a lot of explaining, he agreed to stay in the 21st century. He didn’t have much waiting for him in the 60s anyway. The only reason Diego gave his blessings was because he made Klaus want to get sober.

It was with that thought that he watched them leave for their date at the movies earlier that morning. Klaus looked as flamboyant as ever and Dave perfectly balanced him out by looking like an all-American football player. Diego thought it was odd for someone as stable as Dave to fall for someone like Klaus, but anyone with the last name Hargreeves was guaranteed to have an odd life. 

His police radio cut off his thoughts.

“Diego, do you copy? Over.” The scratchy voice came through. 

He reached for it and close to his ear, “Copy, what’s the situation? Over.”

“Gay bashing at a movie theatre downtown, reckon you can make it? Over.”

Klaus and Dave were at a movie theatre. Shit. No, wait, he had to be reasonable. How many gay couples were at movie theatres right now? It probably wasn’t them. 

“Sure. Over.” Even if it wasn’t Dave and Klaus, that shit could get very bad very quickly.

He pulled into the intersection and turned towards town as the cop on the other end said, “Group of 6 guys jumped a couple in the screen room, everyone ran out but the doors were locked behind them from the inside. They’re probably injured so look out for a skinny curly haired guy covered in tattoos and a stocky brown haired guy in a polo shirt-”

Diego’s stomach sunk, “Appleby Road, yeah? Over and out.”

He turned off the radio before the other cop could respond and booked it down the main road. Everyone swerved for the police siren, but that didn’t stop Diego turning that wheel like a man possessed, although that was Klaus’s thing. He arrived outside the movie theatre in record time to see a group of cops in his squad outside waiting for him. 

“Diego’s here,” Michael announced to the team, “We’re going in.”

Diego didn’t need Michael to lead him. As soon as the door was bashed in, he stormed up the wing thinking about nothing except the faces of other busted up gay guys he’d seen in the precinct; blood coming out their noses, eyes swollen, cuts all over their faces. He doubted Klaus could handle 6 guys all at once. His brother had the physical abilities of a street lamp. 

He cleared the side of the wing, his gun drawn and ready to shoot some homophobes in the head. 

Except, there were no homophobes.

Five cops rushed the scene to see Klaus and Dave sat snuggled the middle of the theatre surrounded by 6 limp bodies. 

The movie played in the background as Klaus looked Diego in the eyes and said, “Hey bro, what’re you doing here? And with your little team as well. Hi Diego’s friends.” He gave them all a little wave.

Dave just had a proud little smile on his face as he looked at his boyfriend perched half on the seat and half on him. Diego put his gun back in his holster and sighed, checking his brother for visible injuries. There was no way his little brother, by size not age, had taken down all those guys and although Dave was a veteran he wasn’t that good, was he?  
The cops lowered their guns, not quite knowing how to handle the situation. Michael walked in front of them, covering the screen and making Klaus strain to see around him. 

He gestured around with his gun, “What happened here then?”

“They started it,” Klaus said immediately, “I just defended myself.”

Diego walked right up to him, “You defended yourself? How?”

“Could you move? we’re trying to watch the film.”

The screen went blank as one of the staff turned it off, “Not anymore you’re not. You okay?”

Klaus waved him off with a scoff, “Of course I’m okay brother dearest, it was only a couple of guys.”

“There were 6.”

“6? Really?” He said incredulously, “It didn’t look like that many.”

“That’s because you had your eyes closed, love.” Dave said, picking Klaus up and placing him off his feet. 

Diego grabbed Klaus at the first chance he had and marched him out of the theatre, Dave following quickly after. The cops checked each victim and they were all still breathing, Diego guessed Klaus didn’t want any more ghosts following him than usual, especially if they were pissed at him in particular. That made them louder according to Klaus. Diego wished he could see them and tell them to back the hell off, especially the ones from when they were younger and dad made them take out criminals. Diego wouldn’t like being constantly reminded of everything dad made them do. 

He sat Klaus down on a chair and felt up and down his arms and legs for wounds. Klaus just looked at him with that goofy smile he didn’t think was appropriate for what just happened. 

“I’m alright,” He said, “They didn’t even touch my beautiful body.”

Diego narrowed his eyes, but turned around to Dave, who was watching them with a small smile on his face, “You okay?”

Dave nodded which made Diego think Dave wasn’t the one who protected Klaus. 

“You must be Diego’s brother,” One of Diego’s cop friends, Ritchie, came over and offered his hand to Klaus, “He doesn’t talk a lot about his family.”

Klaus took it, “I don’t blame him, we’re a weird bunch for sure.”

Diego broke their hands apart, “Yeah, alright, that’s enough.”

Ritchie smiled at Klaus as Diego pushed him away from his brother. He let it happen and walked back to the rest of the team, who were also watching in fascination as Diego switched between berating his brother for taking on 6 guys and being annoyed on his behalf because people would dare to attack him for his sexuality. 

“Has he ever mentioned a brother to you?” Ritchie asked Michael.

“Nah, every time we bring up family he says ‘it’s complicated’ and walks away.”

“That doesn’t look complicated to me.” 

"What are you guys gossiping about?” They glanced behind them as Eudora joined the conversation at exactly the right moment.

“Diego’s family, ever met them?”

Eudora thought back to every time Diego had mentioned his family, but not much came to mind, “He went to a sister’s wedding once, and recently a sister came in to file a stalking case, I don't know if they were the same one. That’s about it though. I know he’s got brothers, but I’ve never met any of them.”

Ritchie hummed in thought. Diego had always struck him as the kind of person who’d been fucked over so many times he never trusted anyone. Like Batman but broke. When he first came, he’d stalk the shadows and pound the training bags until they broke, and any mention of family would make him storm off. Then after a while of hanging around, Eudora managed to soften him up little by little and during the past three months they’d gotten together and he’d become a lot more agreeable.

Michael smirked, “I reckon we’ll be seeing a lot more of them soon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to change this from a one-shot to a chapter where each chapter is Diego's cop friends meeting a different sibling, so if anyone has any ideas as to interesting scenarios for that to happen, that would be cool <3


	2. Vanya

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Abigail_Mikaelson for this idea!

From this prompt: Maybe one where they all meet Vanya is Diego is going to one of her concerts or something bc Patch really likes the orchestra or whatever and somehow it turns into a big station outing? And Vanya and Diego hug and shit after or something.

Diego was lucky Eudora loved orchestra music so much because his sister was the best violinist he’d ever heard. Granted, he hadn’t heard many, but she could destroy the moon with her playing and he doubted any of the others could. Barely months ago he would’ve written off Vanya completely because as if he’d want the sister that betrayed him to be a part of his life, but now he could look at that with hindsight and realise how hard-headed he had been. Not that he wasn’t still annoyed about the book, but it was almost 15 years ago when she was young and irrational so it was about time to let it go. 

That being said, Christmas was coming up and Vanya had a very special performance booked for a hall local to them, now all the siblings were living pretty much on the same street, and he wanted to go to support her. The dates aligned perfectly with Eudora’s Christmas plans to visit her family and he thought it would make a nice going away present since he wouldn’t see her for 2 weeks. 

He asked Vanya about it and she said she’d reserve 2 front seats, and he also asked if she could put all his siblings in the back row so they wouldn’t be disturbed. She smiled sweetly and agreed. She of all people knew what a disturbance some of his siblings could be, mainly Klaus and possibly Luther if he said something stupid and made Diego fight him. It was always Luther’s fault. 

Eudora had jumped at the chance, remarking that she didn’t know he had such a talented sister, to which he just shrugged and thought about how she’d react to meeting Allison. He’d planned everything perfectly, from checking hotels to ordering tickets to whose car they would take. Nothing could possibly go wrong, right?

No.

Diego wondered if his Hargreeves bad luck ever took a break. 

Eudora mentioned their plans to Michael, who promptly told Ritchie, who told literally everyone else. Even the Captain’s secretary was asking what songs would be played. And of course after meeting Klaus, everyone wanted to know what Diego’s other siblings were like; it was the new precinct gossip and it was the only time he wished someone would get into a scandal because at least it would be something to talk about.

Hell, a week ago Ritchie had tracked down Klaus on a date with Dave and coincidentally ran into them in a restaurant with his wife then proceeded to obtain a bunch of Diego’s childhood stories. Thankfully, Klaus wasn’t stupid enough to reveal anything about dad or their powers, but Diego still wanted to bash his head in for telling that he’d had a secret biscuit stash behind a painting on his wall. He didn’t mention it was because dad would make him miss meals for training if he couldn’t get a move right in the allocated time slot and biscuits were the only thing he wouldn’t notice was missing. 

Klaus also mentioned everyone would steal from it. Diego had known they were going missing at an alarming rate, but he’d never caught anyone so he couldn’t actually accuse them. 

Now he would open his desk drawer to find a couple of biscuits hidden in there and Ritchie watching him with a smirk on his face. Diego pretended to be annoyed but at the end of the day, he was getting free biscuits so who was really losing? 

The day of the concert arrived and Diego was checking the clock religiously. The concert started at 7 and he wanted enough time to get home, change, and get there reasonably early so he could guarantee a front row seat. He’d been around long enough to know not everyone listened to reservations and he didn’t want to stir up trouble at Vanya’s event.  
The clock hit 6 and he was up and gone within 5 minutes, Eudora on his heels. Unbeknownst to them, 25 other people were also heading home to change into something more formal. Ritchie loved to gossip.

“You couldn’t at least wear a tie,” Eudora said from the passenger side of Diego’s car as they drove to the concert hall.

“Ties are stuffy,” He said, his eyes on the road as he overtook another car.

“You said the same thing about collared shirts yet here you are.”

“They’re lower on the scale than ties.”

Eudora rolled her eyes, “What scale? The stuffiness scale?”

Diego grunted as he tapped his foot and waited for the traffic light to turn. 

“What are the parameters for the stuffiness scale?”

“T-shirts are a 1, collars are about a 5, ties are an 8 at least and blazers are a 10.”

“What about leather?”

“Leather doesn’t count.”

Eudora hummed and looked out the window, jerking a bit as Diego pressed his foot on the pedal as soon as the light turned green. They ended up arriving 5 minutes before the actual orchestra, which was completely Diego’s fault since he rushed them both through everything and almost had an aneurysm when Eudora decided a blue pantsuit looked better than purple. She was right though. Purple wasn’t really her colour; she didn’t even know why she bought it in the first place. 

As they entered the hall, the chandelier shining brightly on the frosty winter day, Vanya came speeding offstage to greet the, her violin in hand. 

“You’re here early,” She said to Diego who just rolled his eyes, having already heard enough of it from Eudora. 

“Hi, you must be Diego’s sister,” Eudora said, “I’m his girlfriend. He hasn’t told me much about you.” 

Vanya looked a little embarrassed, “I’m not surprised.”

Diego’s stomach turned in discomfort. 

“I love the orchestra,” Eudora continued, “How so many ideas and feelings can fit into one song is beyond me.”

Vanya smiled, “Music can be so beautiful.”

“You would know. How long have you been playing?” 

“Since I was little. Something about the violin always drew me in.” 

Diego felt like the third wheel, just stood there brooding and quiet, but he was glad someone else loved music as much as Vanya did. To be honest, he never really understood it, but he wasn’t going to say that out loud because he just liked seeing his sister enjoy herself for once. It wasn’t a coincidence Vanya felt the most comfortable to show herself off when she had her violin in hand. It was the same way he felt about his knives. 

He was going to suggest they take their seats and let Vanya start preparing for her big moment when the door burst open and the loud sound of a familiar voice echoed through the room. Diego’s mouth dropped into a scowl as he turned around and saw Ritchie, Michael, the Captain, and almost every police officer he knew walking towards them in suits and fancy dresses.

“Hey Diego!” Ritchie called, making Eudora turn around too, “Fancy seeing you here.”

“What are you all doing here?” Eudora cut in before Diego could and squeezing his hand a little to remind him not to make a scene.

“We heard about your sister’s concert and thought we’d tag along,” He said as if it was nothing, “And you must be Vanya. I take it you’re the talented one.”

How did he know her name?

She shook his hand and Diego was about to scream bloody murder when he realised Vanya had a huge smile on her face. She must have thought he’d mentioned her to his friends, but it was more likely Ritchie looked her up. He was alright with letting her believe that though because it made her happy, and if she was happy then he was happy. He also noticed the first row completely reserved and upon looking closer, he realised every name was someone he knew. 

Damn Ritchie and his scheming plans. 

The concert began and Vanya looked like a natural. Diego couldn’t take his eyes off her. Every note felt like a little piece of her soul and he couldn’t believe he’d never seen it before. He wondered if he’d gone to just one of her concerts years ago, he would’ve reached out earlier and maybe healed some of the wounds from childhood. He could curse dad all he wanted, but after he moved out, he was responsible for himself and his choices. 

Vanya had her moment in the spotlight and it was the best part of the show. When it ended, the front row made the most noise out of the entire hall. They all stood and clapped and Vanya had the biggest smile on her face, it was almost worth Ritchie crashing his date. Almost. 

The musicians took their bows and the lights turned on. 

Vanya watched him from the wings for a second before approaching cautiously, “So… What did you think?”

Diego paused to assemble his thoughts, “You were amazing Vanya.”

It wasn’t a fraction of what he’d felt during it, but it meant the world to her. 

“You really think so?”

He nodded, “You deserved every second you got.”

Before he could register it, she lunged forward and hugged him. He tensed for a second then slowly wrapped his arms around her, tucking her delicate frame underneath his chin. A resounding ‘aww’ came from behind him and he turned his head to give his co-workers the best murder glare he could muster then slowly let Vanya go. 

There was a little bit of silence before Michael asked, “So, which restaurant are we going to?”

“No.”


	3. Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Agent_Nevada_01 for this idea

From this prompt: it would be kinda funny to have him get arrested for doing something that, for a 58 year old, wouldn't be a problem, but looking like he's 13 means quite a bit of trouble. Idk, maybe you can have Diego he'll at him because "God dammit Five, now I have to explain why my brother is named after a number" or something.

When Five said he needed a drink, Diego hoped it would be a one-time thing. Apparently not because Michael had just come in holding the forearm of a drunken Five who could barely stand on his own two feet. He looked like a naughty school child caught in the act, not just because of the uniform, but for once the scowl on his face matched his appearance.

He was conscious enough to recognise Diego’s face from the other side of the room and started yelling, “Diego! Diego, tell this man I’m 58. Make him let me go.”

Diego’s face flushed. He was going to pretend he didn’t know the kid, but now that was impossible. He stood up and as he approached, Five flopped into the chair next to Michael’s desk and crossed his arms on it so he could lie down. 

“Another brother?” Michael asked, an eyebrow raised amusedly.

Diego wrung his hand around the back of his neck, “Mom liked kids.” He answered lamely. 

“How many siblings do you have?”

“Too many to keep track of,” He looked at Five’s body shuddering every few seconds. 

Whatever memory he was trying to drown certainly took a lot to do it. Diego tugged at Five’s shoulder and noted how fragile he really was, sometimes Diego forgot his body was still 14 and not the age he acted. Five sat up with a groan and let his head rock back and forth as if he had no control of it.

“Since he’s a minor I’ll have to talk to his parents. Your parents, sorry.” Michael said and a wave of dread washed over Diego.

Dad was dead and he couldn’t call mom. She wasn’t programmed to do anything outside of the house and there was always the risk of people finding out she was a robot no matter how convincing she looked. Pogo was a no-go too. Diego let out a huff of laughter at the thought of Pogo walking into the precinct in his little suit carrying his cane. 

Five looked up at him, “Don’t laugh at me. Get me out of here.” 

It amazed Diego how Five barely slurred. He supposed he had a lot of practise. 

“I’m sorry little bro, you’ve got to be processed.” Diego said, his mouth twitching into a small smirk at Five’s glare; it wasn’t as intimidating as Five hoped it was, “I’ll sign him out and take him home. My shift’s nearly over soon.”

One of the other officers handed Michael the paperwork for underage drinking and he handed it to Diego, “If you’re sure. You might want to talk with your parents about how on earth he managed to get into a bar and order drinks looking like that.”

Diego had a lot of ideas as to how he’d accomplished that, none of which he wanted to tell Michael, “You know how it is, rebellious teens and all that.”

Michael smirked and left Diego to it. There were a lot of cases of underage smoking, drinking, stealing, and everything under the sun in that town so it was pretty plausible that Five was just rebellious. The uniform took the edge off a little though. 

Diego still couldn’t believe they used to wear those. 

As soon as Michael got far enough away Diego sat down behind the desk and whispered harshly, “Are you kidding me? I know you like to drink but couldn’t you have not gotten caught or something? How am I going to explain w-why my brother is named after a n-number?”

Five didn’t answer any of the questions, just looked at him with his big doe eyes and said, “Diego, where’s Delores?”

Diego blinked incredulously, “Where’s Delores? Who cares! You’re on police record-”

“Diego, I need Delores,” Five said, his voice wavering, “You need to find her.” 

Diego sighed and threw the paperwork on the desk, “Where did you last see her?” 

“I think I dropped her when I was being arrested,” He said, his eyes drifting into his eyelids, “You have to be quick, she’s probably worried about me. She worries a lot.”

He was so convinced Delores would be worried, Diego had to wonder just how lonely he’d been in the future and how insane it had driven him. Then again, he’d thought Klaus was insane but all it took to level him out was 10 months in a war zone and a good looking guy and Five had already done the war zone part. Diego knew he couldn’t just take off and look for Five’s mannequin girlfriend without finishing the paperwork, but Five was getting restless.

He looked around the precinct for any officers who might be bored enough to help him look for Delores, since he didn't want any of them to do his paperwork because he’d have to tell them Five’s name was, well, Five and he didn’t want to have that conversation just yet. He was still getting used to the idea that other people had his back and weren’t trying to compete with him for someone’s attention.

His eyes landed on Ritchie who was messing with the figurines on his desk and Eudora who was filling out paperwork. Eudora wasn’t bored, but she might entertain him since they were dating. That was another thing to get used to. 

“Oi Ritchie, help me out with something, would you?”

Ten minutes later he was bundled in a police car with Eudora sitting shotgun and Ritchie stuffed in the back with Five and Five’s awkwardly judging stare. Diego had to promise Ritchie a brownie and Eudora was just curious to meet more of Diego’s family, even if the circumstances weren’t exactly the best. 

“What are we looking for again?” Ritchie asked, squirming under Five’s gaze. 

“Delores,” Five said at the same time Diego answered, “A mannequin.”

“Right,” Ritchie said, “And why are we going this far for that?”

“Because she’s worried about me,” Five said, his head resting on the window.

“It’s an inanimate object,” Ritchie countered.

“You’re an inanimate object,” Diego said, flashing a look in the rear-view mirror that told him to shut up.

“Alright,” He put his hands up in surrender, but a small smirk stuck on his face, “Eyes on the road, don’t want to drive us into a tree.”

Five scowled and stamped on his foot.

They reached the bar and decided to split into two groups: Diego and Five tried to go back to the place Five saw Delores last and Eudora and Ritchie would ask around to see if anyone had seen it. Her. Whatever. 

Five was in near hysterics when Diego said he couldn’t find her. He pulled on Diego’s sleeve and ordered him to look everywhere and yelling at him when he said Delores wasn’t in the waste paper bin. Without his usual inhibitions, he was a lot more emotional than usual. Diego supposed he’d expressed himself to Delores and now she wasn’t there he was freaking out. She was all he had for over 4 decades. They’d been through a lot together; Diego could only imagine from the sparing anecdotes Five told them. 

Five dragged him around that bar for ten more minutes before collapsing in crossed legs on the floor. He held his head in his hands and sniffled. 

Diego didn’t know what to do. The bar was almost empty, most of them clearing out after cops entered and the remaining being old guys watching sports and drowning their memories. That was probably what Five looked like in the future. Diego crouched down and placed a hand on Five’s shoulder but he was shrugged off. 

“H-Hey little bro, it’s okay. We’ll find her,” He attempted to reassure him but to no avail. 

“You don’t understand,” Five mumbled, “You don’t understand.”

“The help me understand.”

Five looked at him with glassy eyes and a quivering lip, “She’s all I have. I was all alone there Diego. All alone. When she came along it was like finally… finally I have someone who understands everything I’m feeling. Every time I had to fire a gun for the commission, she was there telling me I was doing what I had to. Telling me…” He sobbed, “Telling me I wasn’t evil. I was just doing what I had to for survival.” 

“Oh,” Diego said, placing his hand on Five’s back in comfort. It pained him that he couldn’t do anything to soothe Five, but at least he could try. He’d never pretend to understand half of what five had been through, the only one who could possibly help was Klaus but neither him nor Dave could drive and Diego wouldn’t leave Five alone again. Ever again.

Five wiped his eyes with his blazer sleeve, “We kept each other sane when we thought we were doomed to eternal solitude. We helped each other. Got each other through the pain. She needs me just as much as I need her and I lost her.”

“Look what I found.” Diego looked up to see Ritchie walking through the door holding a familiar looking mannequin torso.

Diego nudged Five who looked up and yanked Delores from Ritchie’s hand, held her tight and whispered apologies for her ears only. Diego steered him out the door and back to the car, not before hissing, “Not a word,” At Ritchie when he looked like he wanted to say something snarky and swinging an arm around Eudora’s shoulders. 

As they left without him, Ritchie couldn’t help but remind them, “You still owe me that brownie.”


	4. Luther

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, I don't like Luther and I couldn't bring myself to write a happy chapter about him...  
> Anyways, thanks to DrowningInShips and girlphoenix66 for these ideas <3

From the prompt: I’ve got one for Luther. What if he accidentally destroys something because of his super strength and then gets called in for property damage but when Diego and the rest of the police get there, the broken thing is concrete or something else really hard to break and they’re like ”how did you.....?”.

And: i kinda had an idea for them meeting luther - what if luther and one of the other previously-met siblings go down to the station to visit diego, and diego and luther (as always) almost get into a fight and either the other sibling or diego's coworkers have to stop it? just an interesting idea, although the other luther prompts ive seen so far would definitely make for a more realistic story lol

When a call came in saying a man had punched a huge hole in the side of a building, Diego knew it had to be Luther. He forced himself to join the case even though he really didn’t want to because although the family had mostly made up, he was still a little stiff with Luther after a lifetime of sibling rivalry, but he couldn’t just let his team go meet his brother without him. Besides, they’d already met half his siblings, might as well let them meet all of them. At least, all the alive ones.

He climbed into the car with Ritchie as Michael and another officer took the van, because of course it was those two, as soon as they heard Diego was taking a seemingly innocent case they were suspicious. Michael guessed it was another sibling right away and Diego didn’t even have to confirm it. His look of annoyance said it all. 

First, Klaus, then Five and now Luther. What is it with all of them getting involved in crimes? Crime was supposed to be his thing.

They pulled up outside a large supermarket to see two security guards standing either side of a small man sat on the ground in handcuffs and Luther stood next to them looking rather unimpressed. He tapped his foot on the ground impatiently as the cop car pulled up and huffed as Diego got out of the car. He went up to talk to Diego, but he ignored him and went straight to the security guards.

“Excuse me, what happened here?” He said, flipping open a notebook and pulling out a pen.

The supervisor of the store was the one who called the police and approached Diego, “This man tried to steal a bottle of wine,” He pointed to the man on the floor, “And this man punched a hole in my wall!” He pointed at Luther. 

The wall behind him had a huge crater in it, the bricks had been split in half and there was a hole large enough for someone to climb through into the store. Perhaps Luther had missed the moon a bit too much. Bits of brick lay on the pavement along with bits of the concrete sidewalk that had been stomped on a bit too hard. 

They obviously weren’t built for people like Diego’s brother. 

“Hey, I tried to stop him.” Luther cut in.

“Shut up, you damaged my property. Do you know how much that will cost to fix?”

“I’ll pay for it, it’s fine.” Luther waved him off but that made him madder. 

A small crowd had gathered around them of customers and workers wondering what happened and how on Earth there was a hole through a brick wall. 

“What the hell, Diego?” Ritchie hissed as him, “You didn’t tell us your brother was made of metal.”

Diego thought of mom punching a wall and had to suppress a smile, “He’s pretty strong.” What could he say?”

“And what’s up with his arms?” Michael added.

“I bet he’s on steroids,” Ritchie said and Michael nodded in agreement.

Diego didn’t know what to say. Steroids was a very logical excuse, he’d seen people doing crazy stuff on steroids, so he could maintain that lie, but he doubted Luther would like that very much given how much he looked down on Klaus’s drug use. They would also have to take him in for testing since steroids were very illegal and they’d find out he wasn’t taking them and Diego had lied and that would create more questions. It seemed the more siblings they met, the more clues came up.

He’d done a good job of hiding his past as part of the Umbrella Academy. He said he’d dropped out of high-school, didn’t talk about his family, not used knives on the job, and even pretended to have been an Umbrella Academy fan when he was a kid. He couldn’t risk getting a fake ID and using it in the police, so he just said the last names were a coincidence. He thought he was in the clear once people realised he wouldn’t answer personal questions.

But he was a Hargreeves, bad luck followed him like flies to rotting meat.

“I’m not going to prison,” Luther said.

Personally, Diego thought it might do him some good, “No-one’s going to prison. Except maybe that guy.” He pointed at the thief, “What actually happened here? All I’ve heard is a bunch of arguing.”

“This man ran out with a bottle of wine,” One of the security guards answered, looking child-like next to Luther despite being taller and larger than Diego, “This man was walking up the parking lot, saw him and ran after him, but he missed and barrelled into the wall. We caught him before he even got past the front gate.”

Diego note that down and looked at the wall again. He’d have to bring Luther in for property damage, but he doubted his brother would want to go. Luther had a very strong moral code and didn’t like people thinking he was doing the wrong thing, or what he thought was the wrong thing. Diego doubted he could even get handcuffs around Luther’s wrists. 

“Well, we’re going to have to take both of you in.” Michael said.

“I didn’t even do anything.” Luther protested.

“Yes, but you kind of did.” Ritchie said, gesturing to the hole in the wall. 

“That was an accident.” A hint of embarrassment clouded his face.

“Still did it though.”

“I’m not going,” He crossed his arms. 

He was so used to getting his own way, he didn’t realise the police had to take him in. It would be against the law if they didn’t.

“Come on Luther, make this easy on us.” Diego said as a last plea to his brother. He doubted it would work, but he had to try and settle it civilly. 

“Come on Diego,” That patronising tone Diego was so used to and hated so much was back, “You know me, I’ll pay it back. Can’t you just pretend it didn’t happen?”

Diego’s brain almost short-circuited at what Luther was asking him to do, “Pretend it didn’t happen? In front of all these people? How am I going to do that? Hey, everyone, forget what you just saw, the bricks just collapsed on their own.”

Luther gave him a disappointed look, “I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“If you haven’t done anything wrong, why are you so against coming to the station?” Ritchie cut in.

“Stay out of this,” Luther warned him.

Diego scoffed, “Don’t talk to an officer like that.”

Ritchie made a mocking face that reminded Diego of Klaus. 

“I can talk to anyone however I want.” Luther said upon seeing it.

“Get in the car now or I’ll charge you with resisting arrest. Then you’ll see what it’s actually like to be in trouble.”

“Okay, let’s calm down.” Michael tried to step in, always the voice of reason.

Diego saw how this was going and he didn’t mind at all. Talking to Luther always made him want to hit something. Luckily, Luther threw the first punch, so everything he did was self-defence. Diego blocked him and pulled out his gun, but Luther pulled it out his hand, picked him up by his collar and slammed him against the wall. 

Michael, Ritchie and the other officer pulled their guns out immediately and as soon as Luther saw this, he dropped Diego on the floor and stepped back. Diego was about to grab his hidden knives that he kept just in case, but opted to retrieve his gun instead. The two security guards grabbed one arm each and Luther let it happen whilst rolling his eyes. 

“You’re under arrest for property damage, attempted assault, assault of an officer and resisting arrest.” Michael said as he was being led to the truck, “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in court. You have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions. You have the right to have a lawyer with you during questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish. If you decide to answer questions now without a lawyer present, you have the right to stop answering at any time.”

Luther was stuffed in the back of the van that was supposed to be for the thief, who was put in the back of the car. The drive back was filled with Ritchie making fun of Luther and even Diego couldn’t help but crack a smile. 

Luther was processed and given 6 months in prison and a $5000 fine for the assault and $2000 for the property damage. Frankly, Diego thought he deserved it.

As they watched the van Luther was in be driven out of the police station parking lot, Ritchie summed up with what they were all thinking, “What a dick.”


	5. Allison

After the last few encounters, Diego was counting down the days until Allison would show up. She was the only one left that the precinct hasn’t had the absolute pleasure of meeting so when the premiere of her new film, one that had been filmed before the whole time-travel stuff, was announced to be in the next town over, Diego just knew it was time.

It was a frosty morning in January when the whole precinct was stuck indoors doing paperwork in their winter coats. Apparently, criminals didn’t want to do much in the cold either. Even Diego was uncomfortable in his leather jacket that usually kept his body heat in. To distract him from the cold, he threw tiny bits of screwed up paper at Ritchie’s head and no matter which way he moved, Diego always hit it.

The elevator door opened with a ding and two large men in black suits with earpieces walked out attracting the attention of the entire precinct. Behind them, Allison followed in a simple pencil skirt and blazer with her hair and make-up done and tall heels on. She looked out of place for the weather so Diego guessed she’d just stepped out of a car, probably a limo knowing her. That’s one part of Vanya’s book he could agree with; Allison’s self-centeredness. She’d gotten better over time but old habits die hard. 

As soon as he looked up, she caught his eye with a sharp smile and a knowing look. He put his pen down a little too forcefully and resigned himself to being the focus of the precinct gossip for the next couple of weeks. 

“Hi Diego,” She said sweetly as if she didn’t know she was causing a precinct standstill. 

Diego raised his eyebrows at her and her two bodyguards that stood either side of her; they were in a police precinct, you can’t get much safer than that, “Is there something you need?”

Her smile widened, “I think you know.”

“Haven’t you got something better to do?” He addressed the room.

“Not really.” Michael called back.

Diego sighed.

Ritchie came over and sat on the side of his desk making a stack of papers slip into his lap, “So, how do you two know each other?”

“Take a guess.” Diego scowled.

Ritchie’s face contorted as he thought about it, then an incredulous look passed over his face, “You two? Really? Come on Diego. Look, I can understand not telling us about your other siblings, but Allison Hargreeves? If I had a famous sister, I’d wouldn’t shut up about it.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I’m not you then.” Diego replied and shoved him off his desk. 

“You’re siblings?” Another officer said from across the room.

“Adopted.” Diego replied, just as loudly.

Allison quirked her lips at the exchange before finally cutting in with, “Diego, I need someone to accompany me to the premiere.”

“Why me? Why not ask one of your…” He gestured to the bodyguards, “Lapdogs.”

The men in question didn’t react, but Allison kept her smile, “Because you’re my brother and you’re in the area. You can say no if you want.”

“Can I?” He knew it was a bit of a snide remark, but his tolerance for her had fallen like a stone from a skyscraper after he learned of what she’d done to her daughter.

“You should.” Ritchie was in his ear like an annoying bug.

Diego turned to him looking like he was completely done with everything, “And why should I?”

Ritchie rolled his eyes like it was obvious, “You get to meet a bunch of famous actors, you have a front stage pass to a new film, you get to walk the red carpet-”

“You get mauled by paparazzi,” Diego continued, “You have to wear a suit, you have to pretend to like people you don’t know.”

“Just go Diego,” Michael butted in, “It’s a once in a lifetime chance.”

“Yeah Diego, you should go,” Eudora walked in making Diego’s eye roll turn from annoyed to playful in a split second as she walked up to Allison with complete nonchalance, “Hi, I’m his girlfriend, Eudora Patch. We haven’t met yet.” 

“Allison,” She replied, “Diego, I can’t believe you haven’t introduced us yet.” She turned to him with a faux-shocked look on her face.

He scowled. 

Eudora chuckled, “He’s being a bit of a grump today because he doesn’t have anything to shoot at.”

“I know what you mean. He can be such a downer when he’s bored.” She said.

“And the temperature doesn’t help.”

“Why do you think he wears all that leather?” Allison asked rhetorically and the girls laughed as if they’d known each other for years. 

Diego watched them with a look mixed between confusion and fear. If they become friends, Allison would be around every weekend for dinner and there was nothing Diego could do or say to stop it. It was the stuff of nightmares. 

“Well, I’ll let you all get back to work,” Allison said, clapping her hands together, “What do you say Diego?”

“Come on Diego, help your sister out.” Eudora added, looking remarkably similar to his sister at that moment.

Diego didn’t know what to do.

And that was how he ended up in a black suit trying not to blink every time a camera flashed. People yelled questions to him, but he refused to answer as per Allison’s PR team’s orders. In truth, he was a little wary of the precinct discovering Allison was his sister. It may have been years ago, but Allison didn’t shy away from her Umbrella Academy heritage and Diego knew he was walking on thin ice admitting that relationship. 

In fact, he wouldn’t be surprised if some of the other officers had already figured it out. He’d told Eudora a few weeks ago after having one too many glasses of wine and she’s confessed that she’d been suspicious ever since she accidentally spotted him throwing a knife around a corner. She hadn’t mentioned it because of his reluctance to talk about his background, but it never quite disappeared from her mind.

Now, however, he bet journalists would find where he worked and lived and everything about him and then he wouldn’t be able to leave that part of his life in the past. The other officers would ask questions and he didn’t want to be seen as something weird and different. He especially didn’t want them to think the only reason he passed police training was because of his powers. When he was young, he though Vanya and people like her were useless and it was up to him to protect them, but as he grew up, he realised just how much he wanted to be like her. 

He often wondered how he’d be if his birth mother had kept him. Would he have gone through school like a normal child, or would he be hidden away like a family secret that no-one talked about? His powers were pretty easy to hide because he could control them, so he probably would’ve pretended he couldn’t do what he could do. He’d tried looking into his family, even going as far as getting a DNA test done, but nothing came up. He supposed Reginald had gone to great lengths to cover it up. 

He bet if Klaus had stayed with his family, he’d be in a psychiatric hospital tied to a bed somewhere. Allison would probably be the richest person in the world and have loads of friends, fake friends of course. Luther could’ve been a weightlifter, Five would probably become a scientist if he didn’t try and test out his powers sooner and get stuck, at least Reginald had managed to stop him for a bit so that was something he’d got right, and Ben would still be alive. Locked up somewhere or sold to the circus, but alive. 

Vanya? He didn’t really know what would’ve happened to Vanya. She either would’ve been a perfectly normal child and the love from her family would’ve counteracted the violent nature of her powers, or she would’ve killed everyone. Diego thought about that a lot during his time away from the Academy.

The film was alright, not Allison’s best work, but pretty enjoyable if you switched the logical side of your brain off. He didn’t talk to any other actors; the most interaction he had was a small nod to some of the other security guards as they passed each other. It was later than he expected when the premiere ended, Diego had managed to persuade Allison to skip the after party or they’d be there all night, so he called the precinct to let them know he wouldn’t be coming in for overtime and could someone put his stuff away. 

The captain’s secretary had picked up the phone promptly let everyone in the precinct know, to which Ritchie had said he’d meet them at a restaurant if they wanted to get dinner. Diego suspected it was because he wanted to hit on Allison so he told the secretary to tell him to shove off. 

He drove Allison home and dropped her on the steps of her expensive apartment block. As she got out of the car, a long coat trailing behind her, he wound down the driver’s side window and called out to her, “Night Allison.”

She turned around, key in hand, “Goodnight Diego. And thank you for coming with me, I know it’s not really your thing.”

“Yeah, whatever,” He looked down, a little embarrassed.

“Listen, I know you don’t like taking advice, but I think you should tell your friends who you are.” A hint of sadness ran through her voice.

“What makes you think they don’t know?” 

She sighed, a soft smile on her face, “They would already have known I’m your sister. You have good friends here, an amazing girlfriend. You shouldn’t throw that away because of a stupid lie.”

He steeled himself, “You should know.”

She turned around and unlocked the door whilst an awkward silence fell between them. Just as Diego was about to drive away, she said, “I know you and I don’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of things, but I know about the effect lies have on a family. You can’t hide who you are forever.”

Diego grit his teeth and started the engine. He didn’t want to listen to any more of her life advice so he rolled up the window and drove away. He couldn’t resist checking his mirrors to make sure she got inside alright, but after that he was on his way home. Back to Eudora where he wouldn’t have his life dissected by someone equally as messed up as he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone has any ideas for Ben that would be great. Somehow I want Klaus to summon him so if you lovely readers have any for scenarios, comment them because you guys have come up with a bunch of awesome prompts!


	6. Ben

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a bit of an amalgamation of a lot of ideas, but there weren't any direct prompts for it. It's a bit of a sad one, but hopefully not too sad.

It seemed like the universe had aligned to make today the worst day for Diego. Firstly, his police uniform had been in the wash so he had to put his shirt on while it was still wet, then his car broke down halfway and he had to walk to work, and then he dropped his house keys in the drain so he wasn't really feeling up for any more of his sibling's nonsense. Unfortunately, that was the day they decided to be the most nonsensical of all.

He walked into the precinct, his shirt mostly dry from the walk over, to see five people crowded around the table in the breakroom making a lot of noise. He opened the door to see Michael, Ritchie, Klaus, Dave, and someone he didn't know playing cards. They didn't notice he was there until he cleared his throat.

Klaus looked up, "Hey, Diego, you're late for work. That's against the rules, you know."

"Fuck off," He replied automatically, "Why are you even here? Don't you have other people to annoy?"

"I do." He gestured to Dave and the person he couldn't recognize.

Diego rolled his eyes, "I mean not at my work."

"Relax," Ritchie said, "He just stopped by to introduce us to your brother Ben."

Diego's brain short-circuited. He couldn't begin to formulate a reply to that. At first, he thought it was a joke, but Ritchie seemed completely serious and it wasn't like him to mess with people like that, even if he was a shithead, he wasn't cruel. He looked to Klaus who had a nervous smile on his face, completely unlike his usual demeanor.

"Hi, Diego." Ben looked different but Diego could see the resemblance to the boy he used to know in his smile and the way his eyes twinkled. 

There was silence in the room as Diego flicked his gaze between Klaus and Ben, "You- Did you- How-"

"I picked him up from the airport last night and we thought we'd come say hello." Klaus said with a wink. 

Diego took a deep breath, "I d-d-don't know what to s-s-say."

"We'll leave you two alone." Dave said, always the voice of reason.

"Aw, but babe." Klaus protested.

"Come on." He practically hauled his boyfriend out of the plastic chair and carried him out the door, the other cops in tow. 

Diego wasn't sure how to react to seeing Ben again. Of course, logically he knew the other had always been there with Klaus, no matter how many times they'd insisted Klaus was making it up, but it was another thing to see him in person. Ben's death was the catalyst for most of the problems the Hargreeves had. It was the event that kickstarted Klaus' decent into harder drugs, it was the reason Vanya moved out and Allison started seriously pursuing acting. Five's disappearance had been bad enough, but there was always a glimmer of hope that he'd return. With Ben, there was none of that. 

Privately, Diego had thought that perhaps it had been for the best. He'd never say it out loud, but Ben's life wasn't on a very nice track. His powers weren't like the other siblings', he couldn't control them and no matter how much training dad put him through, he was always the elephant in the corner that everyone was secretly a little afraid of because they knew he could kill them at any second. Sure, Klaus' means of control were terrible and Luther had serious anger issues, but at least they had some self-restraint. Ben's powers were monstrous. The only person unafraid of him was Klaus, but Diego reckoned that was because Klaus didn't really care if he lived or died. 

He and Klaus had a special bond as children that Diego envied. They would comfort each other after training and missions and talk about running away, where they'd go and all the amazing places they'd see. Neither of them were particularly physically gifted so they'd stick together behind the other siblings and whisper jokes to each other until dad caught them and sent them both to opposite sides of the room, even then they'd pull funny faces at each other. At first, Diego thought they were both childish and incompetent but as time went on and his other sibling's paired off, Allison and Luther, Five and Vanya, he found himself all alone. In retrospect, he should've paid more attention to Ben, if only he knew how little time he'd have. He was glad Klaus was the person Ben latched onto. 

His most vivid memory of Ben was when he and Klaus were on the roof and Ben was stood dangerously close to the edge. They didn't know Diego was listening as Ben told Klaus all the reasons he didn't want to live anymore whilst Klaus tried to refute them. In the end, the only reason Ben stuck around for another couple of years was that he'd never be able to pet another cat if he died. He didn't jump but Diego worried if he'd been alone then he might have. His respect for Klaus tripled that day.

He stepped closer to Ben, noticing the faint blue shimmer around his body, and reached out to touch what he hoped was solid. Ben grabbed his arm and pulled him into a hug. The first thing Diego noticed was how cold Ben was, of course he'd be cold, he was dead, and how strong his grip was as if he was afraid of slipping away.

Diego always felt like the older brother, even though they were all the same age, so Ben's death hit him harder than Luther's fist. With Luther being dad's hall-monitor, he saw himself as the protector because he was the second most competent so it was up to him to keep the weaker ones safe, now he knew the numbers meant nothing, but back then they defined who he was. He was the only one who dared to stand up to seriously stand up to Luther. Klaus did it as a joke and consequently was beaten down a lot, but when number one was serious, it was up to Diego to keep an eye out. 

"Careful bro, you'd squeeze me to death if I wasn't already." Ben said, his voice slightly muffled from being squished into Diego's shirt.

Diego didn't laugh, but let him go as much as he could without taking his hand off the other man's arm, "H-H-How are you h-h-here?"

Ben smiled proudly, "Klaus summoned me. He's been practicing to show you guys now he's sober. Thanks for that, by the way. Do you know how hard it is to watch someone destroy themselves without being able to step in? Honestly, that time I punched him was the best time of my life. Jeez, I'm rambling. It's just so nice to talk to someone else for a change. Not that I don't love Klaus, but there's only so long you can listen to obscure movie references and whining about security guards being too tough to get around before you start to lose your mind." He chuckled.

"You look okay." Diego said, then immediately regretted it because as if he'd be okay, but Ben replied before he could take it back.

"Yeah, years of feeling nothing and not aging really clears up your mind." He joked. 

"We missed you." 

Ben was silent for a second, "I know." He said somberly, "I missed you guys too."

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you existed."

That got another laugh, "To be fair, I wouldn't believe Klaus either." 

"Still." 

The brothers were silent for another second, just enjoying the feeling of having each other back and not really caring that it wouldn't be for long. That could change though if Klaus managed to improve his abilities. Maybe he could even learn to bring the dead back to life, now that would be an amazing skill and way beyond what any of them thought he was capable of. Diego tried not to get too ahead of himself because it would probably end in disappointment. Meanwhile, he'd try and make up for all the years he missed.

"Maybe we should let the other's in now." Ben gestured to the window where two faces were pressed against the glass, attempting to see between the blinds. 

Diego's mouth quirked into a smile, "Yeah, alright. Come on in creeps." 

The door opened almost immediately and Klaus and Ritchie burst into the room with Michael and Dave following, exasperated looks on their faces. Diego didn't know why they were so excited, it wasn't like they knew what was actually going on.

"So..." Ritchie said, "Back to cards? I have $10 on this round."

"Sure," Diego said, "You lot play cards and I'll get back to my actual police work."

Klaus scoffed, "No, you can take over my turn. On an unrelated note, can I borrow $32?" 

Diego flashed him a look. 

As the two cops sat down, Ben's form began to waver. Klaus looked up suddenly, a bead of sweat ran down his face and he pretended to check the clock, "Um, on second thought, maybe Diego's right. You guys have to do your jobs, you know, protect the city from the evil burglars and whatnot. Ben and I still have to visit the others. Come on Ben."

"You guys can stay, it's fine." Michael said, "Diego's just a bit of a stick in the mud."

"Nah," Ben waved his hand, "I want to see how Vanya's doing anyway, I haven't heard her play in a while." 

"Okay, say bye-bye to Ben and Klaus. Let's go." Diego said, noticing Ben's fingertips beginning to disappear and hurried them out the door.

Ritchie and Michael gave each other a look and followed them out, keeping a curious eye on Ben and Diego. They suspected something was up with Diego's family, in fact, there was a precinct-wide bet on what it was. Personally, Michael thought they had all just had some sort of trauma as children and it made them all a bit weird, but Ritchie and Eudora were set in the idea that they were the Umbrella Academy kids from years ago. Michael thought it was a stretch, but as he met more and more of them, it began to seem less impossible. The captain thought they should all get back to work and leave Diego's poor family alone. 

"Did you see that?" Ritchie asked once the brothers were out of earshot.

"What?" 

"Ben's arm disappeared." He said excitedly, "I knew there was something off about them." 

Michael rolled his eyes, "It was probably just a trick of the light."

Ritchie smirked, "Keep telling yourself that." He took a second to realize what that meant, "Oh no, that means Sprouse is right and they're all dead except for Diego. You know what, maybe it was just a trick of the light."

Michael sighed as the Captain poked his head out of his office to yell at them all to start working, but the idea buried itself in his head and he later found himself looking up people's experiences with ghosts.


End file.
